Trim saw mounting bracket assembly

ABSTRACT

A bracket assembly for mounting a saw on a truss fabricating press has a bearing sleeve, and a shaft forming a journal arranged in the sleeve and connected to a longitudinally extending member adapted for moutning a saw. The pivotal mounting of the longitudinally extending member permits the performance of trimming operations on chords of bowstring trusses positioned on the press. The lower chord is first positioned and trimmed, followed by the upper chord. A stop is arranged on the shaft for rotation therewith to limit the swing of the longitudinally extending member toward the press. A counterweight may also be attached to the longitudinally extending member for balancing the weight of the saw. A fluid motor or the like may be arranged between and connected to the frame of the press and the longitudinally extending member for selectively swinging the saw toward and away from the chords.

3,827,325 Aug. 6, 1974 TRIM SAW MOUNTING BRACKET ASSEMBLY Inventors:Robert L. Ward; Willie M. Welch, both of Shreveport, La.

Gang-Nail Truss Company of Shreveport, Inc., Shreveport, La. a partinterest Filed: Apr. 4, 1972 Appl. No.: 240,368

Assignee:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1954 Eastwood 83/72 X 10/1963Loughridge 83/490 X l/l970 Riedener 83/47l.2

Primary Examiner-Donald R. Schran Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Clarence A.OBrien; Harvey B. Jacobson [5 7 ABSTRACT A bracket assembly formounting; a saw on a truss fabricating press has a bearing sleeve, and ashaft forming a journal arranged in the sleeve and connected to alongitudinally extending member adapted for moutning a saw. The pivotalmounting of the longitudinally extending member permits the performanceof trimming operations on chords of bowstring trusses positioned on thepress. The lower chord is first positioned and trimmed, followed by theupper chord. A stop is arranged on the shaft for rotation therewith tolimit the swing of the longitudinally extending member toward the press.A counterweight may also be attached to the longitudinally extendingmember for balancing the weight of the saw. A fluid motor or the likemay be arranged between and connected to the frame of the press and thelongitudinally extending member for selectively swinging the saw towardand away from the chords.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures TRIM SAW MOUNTING BRACKET ASSEMBLYBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to an assembly for fabricating bowstring trusses, and inparticular to a bracket assembly for mounting on a truss fabricating.press a saw for performing trimming operations on chords used to formthe trusses.

2. Description of the Prior Art Machines are known for fabricatingbowstring trusses by means of toothed connectors and toothedspacerconnectors formed by a pair of toothed plates connected by flangedribs.

One embodiment of these known machines, as disclosed in US. Pat. No.3,329,328, has a series of press devices for embedding the teeth of theconnectors and spacer connectors into chords of the truss after thechords have been positioned and clamped by locating and spacing elementsassociated with the press devices. A difficulty encountered infabricating bowstring trusses with a press of this type is that sincethe ends of the lower and upper chords forming the truss are in abuttingrelationship, and the upper chord is deformed into an arcuate shape thestock forming the chords must be trimmed to approximate length beforebeing placed in the press. This technique has been found to result inimprecise trimming of the chords, with a resulting reduction in thequality of the finished trusses.

It is generally known to pivotally mount saws on various types ofmaterial working machines for the'purpose of performing trimmingoperations. An example of such an application of trim saws may be foundin US. Pat. No. 2,856,973. However, the specific application of a saw toa truss-forming press to perform trimming operations on the chords ofthe truss has not been previously known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide an assembly for fabricating bowstring trusses which adds to atruss fabricating press included in such assembly the capability ofperforming trimming operations on chord members arranged in the press sothat precise trimming operations on the chords may be carried out.

This and other objects are achieved according to the present inventionby providing a bracket assembly for mounting a saw to a trussfabricating press. This bracket assembly preferably has means formounting a saw thereon, and means for pivotally mounting the mountingmeans to the press frame or other suitable structure for arranging thesaw to perform trimming operations on trusses being manufactured by thepress.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, thepivotally mounting means has a bearing sleeve, and a shaft connected tothe mounting means and forming a journal arranged in the bearing sleeve.A stop is preferably mounted on the shaft for rotation therewith and forlimiting the swing of the mounting means in the direction toward thetruss chords to be trimmed. The mounting means may be a longitudinallyextending member connected at one end to the shaft and mountable at theother end to a saw.

An advantageous feature of the present invention provides acounterweight connected to the mounting means for counter-balancing theweight of a saw mounted on the mounting means. 7

A means such as a fluid motor may be connected to the mounting means andto the frame of the press or other suitable structure for selectivelyswinging the mounting means relative to truss chords to be trimmed.

In fabricating trusses with an assembly according to the presentinvention, the lower chord of the truss will first be placed in thepress and trimmed by moving the saw therethrough, and the upper chordwill then be put in position and trimmed by the saw. This sequentialtrimming of first a lower and then an upper chord previously positionedon the press permits precision trimming of the chords.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, rearperspective view showing a bracket assembly according to the presentinvention mounting a saw on a truss fabricating press.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, front perspective view showing the arrangementof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, exploded perspective view showing a detail of abracket assembly according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, side elevational view, partly in section,showing the detail of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2of the drawings, an assembly according to the present invention forfabricating bowstring trusses has a trussfabricating press 10 such as isdisclosed in more detail in US. Pat. No. 3,329,328, issued July 4, 1967to J. C. Jureit et al. Press 10 is preferably of the type provided withchord locating and spacing devices 12. The truss fabricating assemblyaccording to the present invention also has a bracket assembly 14 formounting a saw 16 to the frame of press 10, or to other suitablestructure (not shown). Saw 16 is preferably a standard motorized sawhaving a circular saw blade 17, and is arranged for cooperating withpress 10 for sequentially trimming first a lower and then an upper chordpreviously positioned on press 10.

As can best be seen by referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings,bracket assembly 14 has a bearing sleeve 18, and a shaft 20 arranged insleeve 18 and connected to a longitudinally extending member 22 forpivoting same. Shaft 20 forms a journal when arranged in bearing sleeve18. Member 22 has a right-angled flange 23 to which saw 16 is connectedin a known manner, as by screw fasteners cooperating with threaded holes(not shown) in saw 16. Member 22 is also provided with a bushing 24connected thereto at one end thereof for rotation therewith. One end ofshaft 20 is received in bushing 24 and rotatably connected thereto as bysetscrews 26. The other end of shaft 20 is provided with a head portion28 which cooperates with bushing 24 and setscrews 26 to retain shaft 20in sleeve 18. Member 22 also is provided with a plate 30 whose functionwill be discussed below. Sleeve 18 may mount assembly 14 on press as bybeing welded to an angle bracket 32 which may in turn be welded to theframe of press 10.

A stop 34 may be mounted on head portion 28 of shaft for rotationtherewith, and for limiting the swing of member 22 in the directiontoward chords 36, 38 (FIG. 2) to be trimmed. Stop 34 is formed by anangle bracket 40 which is, for example, welded to head portion 28 andprovided with a screw-threaded opening for receiving a screw 42. As canbe readily understood, stop 34 may be adjusted merely by turning screw42 in bracket 40.

Preferably, a counterweight 44 is connected to member 22 adjacent theconnection of member 22 to shaft 20 as by means of a rod 46 providedwith screw threads 48. Counterweight 44 threadedly engages threads 48 soas to provide an adjustment therefor. In this manner, the weight of saw16 may be counter-balanced.

If desired, saw 16 may be depressed by manually gripping handle 49thereof, or it may be mechanically driven by means of a fluid motor 50having a cylinder 52 pivotally mounted to a flange 53 of plate 30 as bya pin 54, and a piston rod 56 pivotally mounted to the frame of press 10as by a pin 58. Obviously, the position of fluid motor 50, which mayreceive a fluid under pressure as through a line 60, may be reversed.Selective actuation of fluid motor 50 will swing member 22, to whichplate 30 is connected, and thus saw 16 relative to chords 36, 38.

With a truss fabricating assembly according to the present invention,bowstring trusses, which are illustrated in, for example, theabove-mentioned US. Pat. No. 3,329,328, may be fabricated by firstpositioning a lower chord 36 in press 10 and trimming same by depressingsaw 16. Once lower chord 36 has been trimmed, an upper chord 38 may bearranged in press 10 and trimmed in a similar manner. Once thesetrimming operations have been completed, the pressing devices 62 (onlyone of which is shown in the drawings) of press 10 may be actuated in aknown manner for pressing two connectors 64 (only one of which is shownin the drawings) into chords 36, 38.

Since the arrangement of chords 36, 38 in press 10 is such that one end(not shown) may be properly positioned and only the other end need betrimmed, only a single bracket assembly 14 and saw 16 need be mounted onpress 10. This is the right end of press 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 ofthe drawings. Further, it is to be understood that chords 36, 38 may beconstructed from any suitable known material, although wood is apreferred material.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

We claim:

I. An assembly for fabricating bowstring trusses, comprising, incombination:

a. press means for fabricating bowstring trusses, and including a frame,a pressing device mounted on the frame, and first chord locating andspacing means mounted on the frame and associated with the pressingdevice for locating a chord, and second chord locating and spacing meansmounted on the frame for sequentially locating a further chordcontacting a chord located by the first means only at spaced points onthe chord, the pair of chords cooperating to form a truss; and

b. saw means including a saw swingingly mounted on the frame andarranged adjacent an end thereof for selectively swinging in a planetransverse to a plane in which the pair of chords are located andsequentially trimming adjacent ends of first one and then the other ofthe pair of chords as the same are located by the respective first andsecond locating and spacing means.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1, wherein the saw means furtherincludes means for mounting the saw thereon, and means for pivotallymounting the mounting means and permitting the saw to cooperate with thepress means, the pivotally mounting means including a bearing sleeveconnected to the press means and a shaft connected to the mounting meansand forming a journal arranged in the bearing sleeve, the pivotallymounting means further including stop means mounted on the shaft forrotation therewith and for limiting the swinging of said mounting meansin the direction toward a member to be trimmed, and a longitudinallyextending member connected at one end to the shaft for rotationtherewith and at the other end to a right-angled flange mountable to thesaw, and the structure further includ ing means connected to thelongitudinally extending member for counterbalancing the weight of thesaw.

3. A structure as defined in claim 2, further including a plateconnected to the longitudinally extending member, and fluid motor meansconnected to said plate for selectively swinging the longitudinallyextending member relative to chords to be trimmed.

1. An assembly for fabricating bowstring trusses, comprising, incombination: a. press means for fabricating bowstring trusses, andincluding a frame, a pressing device mounted on the frame, and firstchord locating and spacing means mounted on the frame and associatedwith the pressing device for locating a chord, and second chord locatingand spacing means mounted on the frame for sequentially locating afurther chord contacting a chord located by the first means only atspaced points on the chord, the pair of chords cooperating to form atruss; and b. saw means including a saw swingingly mounted on the frameand arranged adjacent an end thereof for selectively swinging in a planetransverse to a plane in which the pair of chords are located andsequentially trimming adjacent ends of first one and then the other ofthe pair of chords as the same are located by the respective first andsecond locating and spacing means.
 2. A structure as defined in claim 1,wherein the saw means further includes means for mounting the sawtheReon, and means for pivotally mounting the mounting means andpermitting the saw to cooperate with the press means, the pivotallymounting means including a bearing sleeve connected to the press meansand a shaft connected to the mounting means and forming a journalarranged in the bearing sleeve, the pivotally mounting means furtherincluding stop means mounted on the shaft for rotation therewith and forlimiting the swinging of said mounting means in the direction toward amember to be trimmed, and a longitudinally extending member connected atone end to the shaft for rotation therewith and at the other end to aright-angled flange mountable to the saw, and the structure furtherincluding means connected to the longitudinally extending member forcounterbalancing the weight of the saw.
 3. A structure as defined inclaim 2, further including a plate connected to the longitudinallyextending member, and fluid motor means connected to said plate forselectively swinging the longitudinally extending member relative tochords to be trimmed.